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Mr Bartlett said the police investigation could not categorically determine whether Mr Hamill committed suicide or might still be alive.

But by 2010, both police and Mr Hamill's family were rejecting speculation that he faked his own death.

"As far as the family is concerned, Matthew is dead and they have moved on. The thought that he may still be alive is not something they want to contemplate," Mr Bartlett told the Herald.

He described the suggestion Mr Hamill had faked his own death as "poor taste".

"There's nothing that's been suggested by the police Mr Hamill faked his death."

David Onions - the general manager of Millbrook, the resort near Arrowtown where Mr Hamill worked as the food and beverage purchase manager for two years - said at the time there was "absolutely nothing" to suggest Mr Hamill was alive.

"The family consider Matthew missing presumed dead and they don't want to reopen the whole matter. The conjecture seems to be because no body was found, but the reality is they don't always appear."

Police are now seeking information from the public about Mr Hamill and ask anyone who has information on his disappearance, or who may have seen him on October 30, 2008 to contact them on 03 441 1600.

They say inquiries have revealed Mr Hamill travelled regularly to Oamaru and also had ties in Auckland and Vietnam.

Information can also be provided anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

There have been no sightings of Mr Hamill since he was last spotted at a Frankton business on October 29, 2008 wearing a yellow jacket, sunglasses, dark brown trousers, cream-coloured jersey and black shoes.

Mr Hamill was born in Northern Ireland and had a tattoo of a black and green turtle on his right shoulder. He left his homeland at a young age and was well-travelled, including time spent in Canada.

He was survived by several children from more than two partners.

There have been similar cases of people vanishing in suspicious circumstances, most recently when Queenstown man John Beckenridge and his 11-year-old stepson, Mike Zhao-Beckenridge, vanished.

Mr Beckenridge broke a Family Court order when he picked Mike up from school in Invercargill on March 13 last year. Eight days later his car was found at the bottom of an 88m cliff near Curio Bay with no sign of the pair. Some believe the former pilot has escaped overseas with Mike and a police say a criminal inquiry is ongoing.

Bassett Rd killer Ron Jorgensen also famously vanished 20 years after the grisly double murder that earned him a life sentence. Following his release from prison in 1984, Jorgensen's abandoned car was found at the bottom of a cliff near Kaikoura.

Though his body was never found, he was declared dead in 1998. But rumours persist that he became a police informant in Australia. His fate remains unknown.